I was recently visiting our beloved expert, Pete George, and as he emptied out my latest shell (a 10 pounder CS Read-Parrott made by Samson & Pae) from the Banks Ford area, I presented him with a theory. I believe the new CS 10 pounder Read-Parrott introduced in early 1864, formerly known as the "Tredegar Read," but I have labeled the "Broun-Parrott," had the worst CS designed sabot of any CS field shells made during the war. Pete agreed.
Look at the first image below. Not only did the cup have a high-convex top, almost guaranteed to base-chip, but the exposed lower part of the wrought iron cups was intentionally made short and thick. No flexibility or room to catch the lateral pressure of the initial charge. These shells, apparently the new regulation design for a couple of months in early 1864, proved to be a failure and the Richmond Arsenal formally reverted to the earlier smooth-sided design by May 1864. It is apparent that the designer (I believe Col. Broun deserves the 'credit') paid no attention to Dr. Read's 1856 patent or his extensive efforts to set up western and Deep South foundries to produce projectiles with his Read cup during the winter of 1861-62.
There is a compelling story here of hubris and inexcusable stupidity. It cost Southern lives. Battles were lost due to the consistent failure of CS artillery projectiles to perform as expected. The smug Broun sitting safely in Richmond bore much of the responsibility. Many of the other arsenal chiefs were harshly critical of the deigns coming out of Richmond in their correspondence among each other. Of course, after the war it was all honey and roses. But while the fighting was hot, Col. Broun was poorly regarded by all except maybe by his boss, Col. Gorgas, who did not learn of what a screw-up Broun was until around March 1864.
The last photo below shows a good CS made and designed sabot - a style produced by the Augusta Arsenal around early 1864 following extensive testing and studies. It is a very good sabot. It follows Dr. Read's principals with brass/copper construction and a high bearing surface. These Augusta sabots had 3 small holes in the top to secure the sabot mirroring Read's early 1862 mold patterns which usually had only 2 similar holes. The one big difference is Augusta cast its sabots and then machined them into shape. Dr. Read prescribed die-struck sabots for greater flexibility and tinsel strength. Richmond was constantly informed of these developments of improved sabots but choose to ignore.
Yes, there is a tragic story here. I hope y'all find this stuff interesting.
Woodenhead
